WILD ANIMALS, ETC. ^7 



in power, who are sometimes quite as ignorant as those pre- 

 tenders. No man more scorned such quacks than Governor 

 Clinton; who often condemned them in his writings. 



We have ten species of snail, or, exactly the same num- 

 ber found east of the AUeghanies. 



We have the gopher which lives in our wet barrens. The 

 prairie wolf never lived in Ohio, nor east of the Wabash coun- 

 try, for which we feel quite thankful, and we have not either, 

 the green prairie fly, of the far-west, which is there so trou- 

 blesome as to render it difficult, in the warm weather, to trav- 

 el across those immense prairies where they dwell, unless it be 

 in the night season. 



But our wild animals will soon be destroyed, indeed, they 

 are mostly killed off already. 



WILD ANIMALS, SERPENTS, TORTOISES, AND OTHER AMPHIBIOUS 

 ANIMALS, QUADRUPEDS AND INSECTS. 



The wild animals of this state, are such as were formerly 

 inhabitants of Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana. Among 

 the carnivorous animals we have the bear, black and yellow 

 wolf and the panther, and the black and gray fox. 



Of those animals, that are carnivorous and herbiferous, we 

 have the opossum, raccoon, polecat and mink. The wood- 

 chuck or ground hog, and rabbit, are herbiferous. Of squir- 

 rels, we have the black, gray, striped and fox squirrels. We 

 have too, the red, and flying sqirrels. The native rats are 

 black and small, but the boats on the Ohio river have long 

 since introduced the wharf rat. Mice are of the same species 

 with those in the eastern states. We have the weasel, and a 

 small porcupine. Beavers were once here, in large numbers 

 on the high lands, at the heads of our rivers, but with those 

 who caught them, they have long since disappeared from among 

 us. A few otters remain, along our rivers, and the muskrat is 

 more common, doing injury, to our canals in places. 



We had once the bison and the elk, in vast numbers all over 

 Qhio. When Circleville was iirst settled, the carcasses, or 



